Societe Generale earnings q4 2018

Societe Generale posted full-year net profits that narrowly beat estimates on Thursday, but also revised down its profitability targets for 2020.

Group profits hit 3.86 billion euros ($4.43 billion)for 2018, close to an analyst forecast of 3.85 billion euros from Reuters. This was a 37 percent increase from its 2017 full-year profits which came in at 2.8 billion euros. Shares fell 1 percent as markets opened in Europe on Thursday.

The French lender’s fourth-quarter net profit jumped to 624 million euros, compared to 69 million euros for the same period last year. Speaking to CNBC, Severin Cabannes, the deputy chief executive officer at the bank, said that 2018 was a “mixed year.”

“In 2018, we have been in a position to deliver growth …Slight growth despite this challenging environment,” he told CNBC’s Julianna Tatelbaum. “The outcome of this quarter for Societe Generale is not very good but it is better than the European average peers.”